, 1887-11-20
M'DOWELL'S DEFENSE.
1t Is Swept Aside BY Fuller
Investigation.
Was the Double Murder Committed
To Save HIMSELF
Mute Witnesses That Give Evidence
To the Contrary.
Special Disp atch to The Leader.

special DlSD dtcn 10 Inc Leader.
LARAMIE CITY, Wyo., Nov. 10
Sheriff Sterling, Coroner Boies, Prose
cutting Attorney Corthell and NJ. B. Grow
have just returned from the scene of the
tragedy which occurred in Centennial
valley Friday afternoon.
Enroute the party spent the night at
Harris ranch and visited the contested
claim early this morning.
Cbas. Hicks, near whose ranch the
killing took place, having taken the pre-
caution to place a guard over the remains
of McDowells victims, the bodies were
found lying in precisely the same position
as left by the murderer, but in entirely
different attitudes from what his version
of the dreadful affair would indicate.
Chas. Hicks and a man named Mari
related under oath all they knew about
the double homicide. They were positive
that no human being witnessed the shoot
ing. Their evidence was confined entirely
to the actions of the parties to the tragedy
prior to the deadly conflict. They men
IlOuGu lnC Bdl lttlluR CAl5lluB DCIWCCu
Mcdowell and Bird, and told OF the find
ing of the body of the latter and his
hired man.
Birds body lay forty feet in the rear of
the wagon. He had evidently fallen face
down and been unable to move. About
twelve feet from the remains and between
the corpse and wagon lay the weapon
which Mcdowell asserts deceased was
pointing at him in amenacing manner
when the first fatal shot was fired. The
dead mans hands were encased in a heavy
and cumbersome pair of buckskin mittens.
The wearing of these coverings would
render it absolutely impossible for poor
Bird to have handled the rife in the man
ner attributed to him in the prisoners
statement.
The body of the second man was rest
ing on the wagon seat, as indicated by Nc
Dowell. Investigation revealed his iden-
tity. He is a Swede named Mazsten, a
comparative stranger in this section and
a very unoffcndlng man OF retiring dis
position. The wagon bed beneath the
seat was covered by a pool of blood.
Bird wore a pair of ordinary field
glasses hung from his shoulder by a
strap. The bullet from McDowell's
weapon encountered the glasses, passed
through the obstacle and lodged in the
unfortunate mans heart.
Mazsten's wound was of a similar ma
ture. The missile struck near the left
nipple, passed through the body and
emerged near the right shoulder blade.
Death in both cases must have been
almost instantaneous.
The Swede wore heavy mittens of the
same material and style as Birds. From
appearances he had the lines in his hands
and was entirely defenseless when shot.
The only objects In the wagon were a
blacksnake whip and the ak 50 dramati-
cally referred to by Mcdowell. The ak
was laying clear back under the seat. The
accepted theory is that the hired man,
becoming frightened after witnessing the
killing of his employer, with u view to
escaping looked down for the whip, in
tending to urge the team to aid in his
flight, and was shot while leaning over.
Coroner Boies placed the two bodies in
the morgue, where they were viewed by
hundreds of citizens this evening. In u
post mortem examination DIR. Miller dis
covered the bullet which ended the exist.
ence of Geo. Bird imbedded in the right
side of the heart which the murderous
missile stilled forever. Arrangements are
being made for the funeral, which occurs
at 2 O'Clock Sunday afternoon.
A coroner's jury will be e~mpanneled
and an inquisition held Monday morning.
The general belief is that the verdict will
not be so favorable to the prisoner as his
statement published in yesterdays
LEADER.
Notwithstanding McDowell's previous
good conduct, public sentiment is now
against him. What at first appeared to
be a double murder perpetrated in self
defense, in the light of later develop
ments stands out as but little less than a
cold blooded assassination. He repeats
his first narration of the collision word
for word, and earnestly asserts hat it is
positively true.